Life hacks are hidden gems, shortcuts, tricks and smart ways to perform routine tasks more easily with a higher chance of success. Life hacks can be used in all walks of life. When putting together and mastered they provide for a huge incremental advantage in one’s daily affairs while also increasing the ability to think outside of the box by visualizing problems in a different manner. This feature takes a look at a few life hacks from different aspects of our lives.
Be it junior school, high school, college or any workplace, there is always that one person around who gets the most done in the least time possible. Such people are always envied by others and are often rated as having superior intellect. What’s worse is that they are also recognized as being very adept at socializing thereby enjoying the best of both worlds. But here’s the secret that no one told you about them, they are likely to be less smart than you think they are. What they do have for sure is a hacker ethic and unique ability to be playfully clever. Such people can make wonders happen if their talent is recognized correctly. Else they are often able to sail through life without much difficulty, at least in the eyes of others.
Hacking, till not so long ago was viewed in a highly negative context. Computer Security breaches, stealing of digital data and access codes etc were all attributed to ‘hackers‘. The hacking community did not take kindly to such negative generalization which is why today you have two types of hackers, black hat (the evil guys) and white hat (the nice guys). The core notion of hacking, however, is not limited to computer wizardry, to understand this better one needs to delve into the definition of hacking,
A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and stretching their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. – The Jargon File
Herein lies the crux behind the thinking and personality of someone with a ‘hacker ethic‘. They appear smarter than others since they approach problems differently often studying things with great detail and then deriving the most succinct summary. The have absolute disregard and mistrust for authority. They believe in openness, sharing, decentralization and world improvement.
With the above in context, try thinking about some personalities who would fit the described behavior. Steve Jobs, Arvind Kejriwal, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet, Aamir Khan, Larry Page, Sachin Tendulkar are a few examples that come to mind. This brings out an interesting insight. Hackers are present in all walks of life and more often than not the most successful people in different fields share common traits with each other, many of which subscribe to the hacker ethic.
Thanks to a better understand of hacking, today the term is more acceptable than before. Companies like Google, Yahoo!, Facebook (click to see the video) routinely organize hack fests, hackathons etc to identify the most capable programmers who can hack their way to new products. The term is even making its way to the world of business with terms like Growth Hacking emerging as a way to bring marketing and product development closer to one another. Each one of us can be a hacker and hack our way to success, in fact if you are smart enough you should be learning new hacks everyday. To get you started we have compiled a list of great life hacks ranging from health, everyday living to dating and living alone,
Health And Body Hacks
Who knew that one can control the urge to pee by thinking about sex or scratching the back of their leg. Well, that right there is a body hack that can be greatly beneficial to anyone who knows about it. Here are a few more to keep in mind:
- Prevent acne by sleeping with a freshly washed towel over your pillow at night. Also, shrink a pimple in minutes by putting a fab of Listerine on it. The alcohol will dry it up and cause it to fade.
- Cure an itching throat by scratching your ears.
- Get rid of those hiccups by taking a deep breath and then holding it for as long as you can.
- The pin and needles sensation in your hands. Make it disappear by rocking your head from side to side.
- Angry? Take a deep breath before you speak, because your mouth acts quicker than your brain. Taking a deep breath will help you process the situation better.
Everyday Life Hacks
These tips will help you become more productive with tasks that you have to do on a daily basis. You can also use them to impress the people around you and make it appear as if you are ahead in the race of evolution.
- Read Faster by reading only with your eyes. Don’t read word for word and eliminate the voice in your head (sub-vocalizing) while reading. This will take some practice if you aren’t used to doing it but once you can master it you have unlocked a huge amount of potential in terms of how fast you can now read. A quick hack to eliminate sub-vocalizing is to hold your breath while reading.
- Rule Of 72 – Divide the number 72 by the rate of interest, you get to know the number of years it will take for you to double your money. It also works for inflation, 72 divided by the rate of inflation gives you the number of years it will take for the value of your money to halve.
- Elevator Magic – Use an elevator without stopping by pressing the floor you want to go to and the ‘close door’ button at the same time.
- Showerhead cleaner – Make a mixture using 1/3 cup baking soda and 1 cup white vinegar. Put it in a plastic bag and put it over the shower head such that it’s completely immersed in the solution. Leave it for a night. By morning all deposits in the shower head will be cleaned out.
- White Wine Over Red Wine – Dropped red wine over your clothes by accident. Use white wine to neutralize the same. You will be amazed by the results.
Living Alone Hacks
Living alone can be hard if you devote a lot of time to household chores, like to throw parties but hate cleaning up, are worried about doing things that are hard to alone etc. These living alone life hacks should help you make the most of your freedom while being super-efficient.
- Make Your House Smell Great – Put two cups of Vanilla essence in a cup and heat it to 300 degrees Celsius till it starts boiling. Place it where you want the smell and save a fortune on scented candles.
- Make Boiled Eggs Faster – Add one teaspoon of baking soda to the vessel where you boil the eggs. The skin will come off really easily once the eggs are boiled.
- Drive Home Safe – If you are tired and have to drive back home over a long distance listen to comedians while driving. It’s impossible to fall asleep while laughing. Also, never drink and drive. Take a cab instead.
- Throw Great Parties – The simplest Margarita recipe is ice, tequila, lemonade, and orange juice. If your pizza goes cold and you want to microwave it without making it soggy then heat it with a glass of water.
Dating Hacks
Dating and finding love can be hard. Most of us have faced failure in love at some point or frequent rejections leaving us heart-broken or disenchanted about the whole experience. One should not give up though. Instead hack your way through by using these dating life hacks which make a lot of sense and are bound to be effective. Even if they are not, practicing them will certainly make you more knowledgeable about the opposite sex which anyways makes for good social conversation.
- The First Move – Want to know if someone wants to be approached. Watch them interact with their friends. If they are engaging in a conversation and are very animated with their body language they want to be left alone. Otherwise, if they are looking around and checking out the scene, they would like to be approached.
- Keep It Going – Want to keep the conversation going but don’t know what to talk about. Ask them to name their three best vacations, three favorite movies, three favorite dishes etc and what they like about each. This gives you time to think about what to say and also gives you three new topics of conversation.
- The Taste Of Success – Had a good first date but you are not sure if you should go for the big kiss, here’s a way to find out. Make eye contact and see if she reciprocates. Now move slowly towards her forehead with the intention of kissing her there. If she moves her head towards you then she’s ready, if she moves it away then she isn’t. Either way you have nothing to lose since kissing on the forehead builds trust and attraction.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Today there are life hacks available for every kind of problem in most areas of life. Just make sure to search for them or subscribe to some sources of life hacks.
Hope you enjoyed reading this feature and tried out some hacks then do let us know how they worked for you. Otherwise, if you have more great hacks to share then drop us a line as well by leaving a comment.
